Tuesday, March 29, 2011

I'm currently on Spring Break which means to me more time to crochet. I'm currently designing a new line of products for newborn photographers. The idea is from a photographer friend that I'll be working with (Dorinda Varga Photography) and I'm so excited about it. I won't be revealing what they are just yet. I should have some professional pics in the next month and then a big reveal.

I was hoping to dive right into this new line but fate would have it I be sick all weekend. These weather changes in Oklahoma are just crazy! I've been sleeping off a fever most of the past three days and I'm ready to get out of the house but it's rather gloomy and the kids are rather obnoxious today so I think I'll pass until the hubs gets off work. I must needs get yarn and mail a few orders.

On a good note I got to put together to fun spring/summer hats that a friend of mine bought for a friend who is fighting cancer. I hope these hats brighten her day. She picked the colors and styles. I love customizing for customers because sometime I need inspiration. Plus I don't get to make Women sizes very often so it was nice to make some larger hats.

I love this lime and white combo on the bucket hat

This is a gorgeous cotton Brown and cream with a large rose detachable clip.

On a fun note I did make a new animal hat last night. Doesn't George look super cute as a lil' stinker!

Hopefully I can enjoy the next few days of spring break but I need some sunshine, smiles and yarn! :)

Friday, March 25, 2011

This week I thought I'd share some of my personal favorites. I'm quite partial to the people whom I'm about to share about because well there family and I love them much!

First up is my fabulous mom- Sara Sach of Posh Pooch Designs

She is my inspiration, motivator and my best friend. You may have come across her shop recently in What not to crochet....LOL! but this actually turned into a business boost.

She has two cute little chi's whom actually get quiet cold in the winter. There not meant for cold weather so she would dress them up warm in the winter. That was the start of Posh Pooch Designs. Her idea may be strange to you if you aren't a small dog owner or lover but this is a big hit with those that are.

She designs sweaters, hats, collar, dresses, blankets, crochet patterns and more! if you have a dog I highly recommend you have a look at all her creative works! If you love to crochet she has lots of free patterns and some to buy as well.

Need something to get your guy or gal! These are super popular with any one I know. He started making these to show support for his co-workers at the police station called the The Thin Blue Line Bracelet.

The small amount of police officers (dressed in blue) standing between the criminal element and the law abiding citizenry is the standard meaning of "the thin blue line". {wikipedia}

He has now has bracelets that support many causes from firemen, military, EMS, Cancer, USA and some are just for fun. Here are just a few.

double thick - Support our Troops!

For the ladies - Heart

"quote" - Our main goal is to show support for those that protect us. While Public Safety is our main focus, we also make military support bracelets, cancer support bracelets and “just for fun” bracelets. -Shelby Spivey

All items are handmade with 550 or 650 paracord that can be unraveled in an emergency giving you anywhere from 2-20' of usable rope. You can also gut the paracord and use the insides separately.

Bracelets can also be customized with your choice of color combinations. This can be done in an agencies uniform colors or your favorite sports teams colors.

He also make, keyfobs, lanyard, dog and cat collars

{$2.00 from every sale is donated to the Air Medical Memorial.}

I hope you'll take time to visit these shops!

Tell them Calleigh's Clips and Crochet Creations {or just Elisabeth} sent ya! They'll know who I am!

Have a fabulous weekend! I'll be spending mine with these two fabulous people! :)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Today my sweet husband and I are celebrating our 4th Wedding Anniversary. He say's I didn't know what I was getting myself into but I wouldn't change a thing. I sure do love him. Marriage is never easy it has it's ups and down but through it all God has blessed and continues to bless and hold us together and I know he will for years to come.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

As long as I can remember my parents always had a garden both flowers and food. I'd like to say I love to garden but it's just not my thing. I'm lacking a green thumb. {plus I hate pulling weeds and bugs...LOL}

I do love to watch the process of a tiny seed grow into something big and beautiful! My sweet hubby brought home these cute little seed kits for the kids. So today we planted some watermelon and tomatoes. I don't know if I'll ever see fruit but I think the kids will enjoy the process of growing something all there own.

Monday, March 21, 2011

I found a link party to help us fellow bloggers get to know each other a little better. Gina and Hiya Luv is hosting this fun party. Feel free to join in if you'd like.

{MY STORY}

Growing up I always remember telling my mom "I want to be a Marine Biologist" I just liked dolphins a lot and though that would be totally cool. That passed and I figured a veterinarian would be more in my reach but being highly allergic to cats and very sensitive skin around dogs that too past me by.

Going through High School I couldn't really ever pin down what I wanted to do. Nothing really stuck out to me except that I loved to play the piano and sing. I was in Jazz Band, choir, and a band aid. {yes I said band aid) I was highly involved in the music program at church whether it be playing solos, singing in groups or accompanying choirs and ensembles.

I decided to go to a Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City in 2000 right after I graduated college and pursue a degree in Music. Despite a few distractions of thinking I also needed to pursue my MRS. degree. {finding a husband} I did finish in 2004 right on schedule. I went back home and did the same things I was doing all before and all through college with music in my church.

I still had no idea what to do with myself I just new I loved Music, wanted to find the man God had for me or at least sit back and let God do the work since I'd failed a few times over those years. {all long stories but good memories I wouldn't change for anything}

I'd remembered one new years eve after college I'd written down some goals of where I wanted to be in five years: (in a nut shell)

1. I wanted to me married...LOL

2. I wanted to be a mommy

3. I wanted to teach piano

There was more but I'll keep it to that!

I recently found that paper in a Bible and was thinking about how blessed I was that God had allowed all those things on the list to be true to date. It amazing to me to see how God had a plan for me and that we really does want to give us the desires of our heart even if we don't deserve it.

{My Jobs}

My first job was as a carhop at a Sonic Drive in ( I said I'd never work fast food)

but I loved it. It was the only waitress job making minimum wage plus tips and not waitress wages. Plus all my food was in bags and the cups had lids. I'm kinda clumsy so I needed all the help I could get. Would you believed I worked at Sonic for 7 years all the way up to Assistant Manager. It got me through college and that what I continued doing after. I didn't want to do this forever!

After all those years my Dad offered me a job working for his company. Here's the fun part this would be work from home. I became the Administrative Assistant for a telecommunications company called Solutelia. My dad is the VP for this company and was getting overwhelmed with tedious paperwork. We did a lot of contract work so I searched for resumes, did paperwork, phone calls, filling , ordering parts, payroll and so much more. I did that for over 2 years. In that time frame I got married and had my first baby. It was a perfect work from home job. There aren't many situations like that and I loved staying home with my baby and working. I had its challenges but I loved it. I became prego with Calleigh and wasn't sure I was going to be able to manage two kids and working at home plus the economy was down and so was the contract work. Sadly my dad had to make the hard decision to let me go which in a lot of ways has been a good thing. It's given me the opportunity to start Calleigh's Clips and Crochet Creations! However I needed to find work and that was a very scary 10 mo with out a pay check.

I couldn't afford to go to work. I didn't want to go to work just to pay day care. it really wasn't worth it and I had no clue where to start and being 6 month prego people didn't exactly want to hire me ( or at least that's what I thought) they couldn't really come out and say that and then.....

{My Dream Job}

Besides being a Wife and Mother I'm also a Piano Teacher with a small business to run!

I checked with the college I graduated from to see if they needed any piano teachers and at the time they didn't but last minute before the school year they had a opening. So I've been teaching Piano lessons to College students at levels from Beginner to Intermediate for the past two years. It works out great because the Campus day care is free for Staff. I truly love it and I look forward to more years to come.

So my job's hours change from semester to semester. I've had as many at 10- 21 students a semester. Plus I get summers off. I work part time a few days a week - from about 7:30- 12:00 depending on the day. I make my own schedule. Then I come home and take care of two crazy kids, two puppies and a Husbands who usually works weird hrs. For the first time he has a M-F job with normal hrs. I don't know what to do with the weekend now that he's home. LOL

I hope you enjoyed reading a little bit about my Job and I look forward to reading more about you all too! Feel free to comment here about your job or career

Friday, March 18, 2011

You can find her on facebook too : Tell her Calleigh's Clips sent you !

Another fun find for me this week has nothing to do with crochet :) -

I was looking for some music for my piano students and came across a great resource for Free Sheet music of all kinds called Free-scores. I don't have a lot of time to get out to the music store across town so it's nice to search online for the music they need plus what's better than a free download.

Speaking of free? have you had any good coupon savings this week! you can find lots of great deals right here on this fabulous couponing community page! I love it!

Find any fun finds this week? feel free to share your links in the comments below!

Vintage Rings - I couldn't leave out the adjustable rings. Especially the middle ring with Vintage sheet music (Melody)

Need one especially unique - check out this one made from a vintage dog food ad.

Here is a little blurb about Erin from Erin

I'm just a busy momma and wife in Corpus Christi, Texas. I've always loved fashion, cooking and baking, artsy things and unique finds, shopping second-hand, and collecting antique dishes and jewelry. On any given day, you can find me in my skinny jeans, Tom's shoes and a white v-neck, toting my favorite accessory {my 9 month old daughter} to the local thrift stores and flea markets. I've turned my love of fabric, fashion and jewelry into design, by using repurposed, vintage and/or designer fabrics to decoupage wide metal cuffs. I might be a busy momma, but I always make time to accessorize!

I tried to make a simple Nb hat with it before and was having trouble figuring out what to do. I couldn't really find any crochet patterns because this yarn is used a lot more with knitting. {I don't knit - I've tried and I don't like it} so this gorgeous yarn has been sitting in a bag in my stash untouched and that wasn't acceptable to me after what I spent on it. So tonight I grabbed a big hook and made a pattern myself and to my surprise it came out perfect the first time. I made up a few more and had the pattern tested and it's all ready to go!

K: KIDS - I have two already mentioned Ayden, I also have Calleigh who will be 2 in May! they sure grow up fast don't they!

L: lizard- My nickname! I've had since I was little. My Grandpa used to call me Lizard breath and in College my roomies decided I needed to be called Lizard and it's stuck through the years.

M: Mommy - Being a mommy is really hard sometimes but I don't think I'd rather do anything else! Love my babies!

N: Needles - Ouch! i hate needles. The most terrifying part of my pregnancies were the stupid IV's!

O: Oklahoma - This is where I live. I've lived here since I was 13. Grew up in Tulsa, Went to college in OKC and now live in Moore. It's a crazy place weather wise but I guess I like it. I'd like to live in Colorado some day!

P: Piano - Been playing since I was 5. I went to Bible College and got my Degree in Music and now I teach piano Lessons at the College I graduated from. I really enjoy it and so glad I get to use my talents for the Lord at the College and my Local church.

Q: Quiet time - I live for nap time everyday! because Quiet time is craft time!

R: Rantoul, IL - Where I was born. I was an Air force brat. I've also lived in Great Falls, Montana, Germany, Rapid City, South Dakota, Las Vegas, Nevada and now Oklahoma

S: Sonic Drive - In- I worked there for 7 years. {and I said I would never work fast food} It was a fun job most the time. I still love happy hour! - Cherry Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper Please!

T: T.v. - I watch to much. Need something to do while I crochet!

U: UGGS - I don't usually splurge on shoes but my hubby's bought me two pairs of Ugg boots and I love them in the winter

V: Violin - I tried to play when I was younger. I have small hands and had a crazy teacher. {really crazy}

W: Weight Watchers - I've always struggled with weight. I did weight watcher after college and lost 40 pounds. I looked pretty good and loved wearing 4-6 clothes instead of 14-16. Then I caught me a husband and had two kids back to back and let just say I need to lose 80 pounds now...totally bummer! I have to tools now I just need the motivation and time! HELP!

X: Extovert - I'm a quiet girl, pretty shy actually, I have to work really hard on being out going. Once I get to know you I open up pretty well. so don't be offended if I don't say Hi or cringe if you try to give me a hug. It's just not my personality.

Y: Yarn - I have alot but I "Need" more! so many ideas to crochet so little time

Friday, March 11, 2011

It's Friday and I thought I'd share/spotlight a few things I found this week.

Etsy Find

One of my favorite bloggers Mandy of Mandipidy has started a new esty shop featuring her own illustrated works. These are darling and I'm saving my pennies to get one soon. You'll have to check them out! She hand sketches them, digitally edits and has them printed on textured cardstock to give them a canvas look! From the alphabet, sewing to coffee she has a great selection! Please check her out!